Narrow-headed Ant (Formica exsecta)
Key Details
| Taxonomic Groups: | Invertebrate > insect - hymenopteran > Ant |
| Red List Status: | (Not Relevant) [(not listed)(nr)] |
| D5 Status: | |
| Section 41 Status: | (not listed) |
| Taxa Included Synonym: | (none) |
| UKSI Recommended Name: | Formica exsecta |
| UKSI Recommended Authority: | Nylander, 1846 |
| UKSI Recommended Qualifier: | (none specified) |
| Red List Citation: | (not listed) |
| Notes on taxonomy/listing: | Formica exsecta is listed as Rare (RDB3) in Shirt (1987) and as Endangered (RDB1) by Falk (1991). |
Criteria
| Question 1: | Does species need conservation or recovery in England? |
| Response: | Yes |
| Justification: | Always rare and seemingly lost from all but one locality in Devon. |
| Question 2: | Does recovery/ conservation depend on species-specific actions? |
| Response: | Yes |
| Justification: | Survival of the Devon population probably requires further interventions in the form of colony creation and translocation, as has been successfully trialled in a recent Back from the Brink project. |
| Question 3: | At a landscape scale, would the species benefit from untargeted habitat management to increase habitat mosaics, structural diversity, or particular successional stages? |
| Response: | Yes |
| Justification: | Possibly, but dispersal rates from the three fledgling locations is likely to be very slow. |
Species Assessment
| Current step on the Species Recovery Curve (SRC): | 8. Species recovering |
| Recovery potential/expectation: | Low - Extinction debt |
| National Monitoring Resource: | Structured - sufficient |
| Species Comments: | Although recovered from being known at one locality to currently three, lack of genetic diversity in the fledgling populations is a concern. This is "recovery" from a dire position, close to extinction. |
Key Actions
Key Action 1
Proposed Action: Carry out further colony creation trials in the Bovey valley as per recent Back from the Brink project.
Action targets: 8. Species recovering
Action type: (Re-)introduction
Duration: 3-5 years
Scale of Implementation: ≤ 5 sites
High priority sites: Bovey valley, Devon
Comments: There have been early successes as part of the Back from the Brink project but there is a long way to go to create a stable population at each current site.
Key Action 2
Proposed Action: Conduct a feasibility study regarding future translocation to re-populate Dorset heaths.
Action targets: 7. Best approach adopted at appropriate scales
Action type: Scientific research
Duration: 1 year
Scale of Implementation: ≤ 5 sites
High priority sites: Dorset heaths
Comments: The Dorset heaths formerly supported a small but widespread colony cluster, so re-establishment here would create a different gene pool.
Key Action 3
Proposed Action: Raise public awareness of the need for any conservation.
Action targets: 5. Remedial action identified
Action type: Education/awareness raising
Duration: >10 years
Scale of Implementation: National
High priority sites: Bovey valley; Dorset heaths
Comments: Most members of the public consider ants to be pests rather than species worthy of conservation. There needs to be a sympathetic appreciation of large nest mounds at any site being used to conserve the more conspicuous ant species.
Acknowledgment:
Data used on this website are adapted from Threatened species recovery actions 2025 baseline (JP065): Technical report and spreadsheet user guide (Natural England, 2025). Available here.